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About The Sunday Oregonian. (Portland, Ore.) 1881-current | View Entire Issue (April 16, 1911)
i TIIE SUNDAY dltEGONIAN. POItTLAyP. APRIL 16, 1911. Tliey are all younpr men ami W. Morgan Shustcr, the head of (he body, bewail his active Governmental career as a stenographer At 21 he was one of the bij officials in the Philippine Islands The college student who went to fight in the Philippines and remained to help govern, the new possessions The youngest of the quin tet Is just 30 Awakened Persia giving heed to the example of the people of the United States Some recent truly wonderful Persian reforms. BT E. J. EDWARDS. PIVH young Americans sailed th other day to undertake In th old world th solution of a problem of finance and government administration of tht first order. Their task Is nothing leas than th entire reorganisation of the fiscal system or th ancient but Bow awakened monarchy of Persia, with th object of placing that country on a self sufficient and Independent baai flnan ctaliy. As a mere matter of financial administration, th undertaking, which present difficulties and perplexities aa yet but dimly outlined, will b watched with keen Interest, and Us successful completion regarded a a notable achievement by all wh are concerned with finance In Its relation to govern ment. Aa a matter which Indirectly may have an Important bearing on the coura of events la the near Eaat. It will b followed with equally keen Interest by those who are aludems of world pontics. "It la a big job that the five your.g Americans have been railed upon to ac complish the reorganisation of the fi nances of Persia." said one of the fore most be ti kens of the country the other dav. -It Is a task calling for flrst-clasa ability, supplemented by thorough expe rience." Th Untted Statea has. on a number of occaiaon. on request sent expert to other countries to assist by counsel and advice In the solution of difficult prob lems of finance or government adminis tration. American ex pert s. for instsnce. . have been railed upon more than once to advise the Chinese government in matters) of peculiar difficulty. When Mexico decided to change from a silver to a gold monetary basis, experts from the United Statea were called in to ad visa the government of tbat country how best to effect the operation. American experts assisted San Domingo In th re organisation of Its cuaKoma service. In these and other casea. except that of San Domingo, where Americana did ac tually assist la th administration of th suggested reforms, the part taken by th experts os purely advisory. But the five young men who ara going to assist Persia will be called on not merely to give advice. They will possess sweeping executive or administrative power and will be. In fact and In name officers of the Persian government. Th entrust ing of such authority to American citl sens by a foreign government Is with out exact precedent. lite Who Will nlp Persia. W. Morgan Shuster. who la to bar auperva4on of th fiscal reorganisation la th kingdom of Iran, has been ap pointed not only financial advisor of the empire, but Traasurer-Oeneral as welL In th latter capacity he will have su pervision of th collection, custody and disbursement of all U:e revenues of the Persian government. Each of th four Americana who will aartst bun In this work to hold m formally designated administrative office. Thus. P. 8. Cairn a i v. P,r,c,or of .r"i,in-Jf,1'rV L Mcvasaey. '"P'"' ' ."1" . Berenua; Ralph W. Hills, chief In rharg of the accounting and auditing system, and Bruce a. Dickey. Inspector of Taxa tion. Th work to be undertaken Is two fold. First, the raoet available sources of revenue In th empire are to be de termined and taea th administrative machinery for Its collection, with proper ! offered him young McCaskey saw bis and sufficient checks and aafeguards to opportunity, and he abandoned his col Insure th deposit of the total amount vge course. For a whole year he waa collected In tha treasury, must be de- ' with bla father's regiment In th Held vised and set In motion. This ta an and was In action against tha Filipino undertaking which will doubtless re- Insurgents on many occastona. quire several years to complete. Mr. j Returning to Manila In the Spring of Shuster and hla associate ara under eon- ' tract with th Persian government for a minimum period of thre years. With a stngl exception, the men chosen to form th Persian financial administra tion have all acquired experience In th administration of government In the co lonial possessions of tha United Stales. Fifteen years ago It would have been a much mvre difficult matter than it proved at this time to find In the United State men thoroughly qualified to solve Persia's problem of finance: for 15 years ago the United Statea bad not becom a colonial power, and no opportunity waa afforded young Americana to master th science of government admlnistra- tton In th midst of a foreign population, j While th experience wbicb baa made theae Americana expert dates back to the time when this country undertook the administration of colonies, it is not surprising that they are all young men. whose age average about 15 years. Rise) of Stenographer. W. Morgan Bhuster first began to be v..L .i .. i ,,,,.,. ( with tha work of th American government In Cuba just after th war with Spain and. sub sequently. In connection aim xne gov emment of th Philippine Islands. la both Cuba and th Philippines be heJd successively many Important government posts. In which he had to deal with the problems arising from the organlxation of new governments, and became es pecially conversant with matters per taining to taxation. Mr. Shuster Is a W ashlnctonlan. His parent have been life-long residents or ae..e.r . " -the capital city and be was born there ter he was In the employ of a bond- lust at th close of President Grant a second administration. February. I71 He was graduated from the Central High School of Washington, and during his post-graduate course there wss col onel of the Washington High School Cadet regiment, an Organisation which became famoua th world over when Sousa wrote for It on of th earliest and probably th moat popular of his marches. While his friends thought at that time that Morgan Shuster waa likely to em brac a military career, circumstances brought It about that be ahouid find hla work In th civil branch of th gov- eminent- At th outbreak or me war with Spain, h was a stenographer In the he T displayed such ability that when the ! Senator Arthur Pue Gorman of Mary TacWtlon commission. which had land, whose daughter. Miss Mary Edna charge of th vacuatlon of Cuba by th Bpanisn government and troops was ap pointed, b was chosen, although then only II yeara of age. to the position of assistant secretary to that body. When tho commission's work was accomplished Mr. Shuster was transferred to the Cuban Custom service. In which he re mained thre years, finally attaining th ixwltlnn of Special Deputy Collector of CuMoro for Cuba. Mr. Sinister work In Cuba had rectal I r commendad its.If to Secretary of War F.llhu Root, and In 101. al thourh Mr. Shu.trr was then only it year of as;.. Mr. Root appointed him Collector of Customs for the Philip pines. Thus, at an ag whsn many younr men nowadays ara Just finish ing their technical tralnlna;. this youns; man was placed at tha head of a ffreat administrative buresu of the Oovern nvsnt. But the duties with which ha was charged In this position were not merely administrative. They were cre ative a well. For on him devolved the work of revising th new Philippine tariff laws and of re-ore;anlnB; the en tire Philippine customs service. Net only that, he wss also charged with the enforcement of all the Immigration, navigation and registration laws In the Philippine Islands. Youngster's Biff Contract. That was something of a contract for a youngster of 14. Mr. shuster waa em ployed In this work for five years, and succeeded so completely In It. that Mr. Taft. then Secretary of War. recom mended that he be placed In charge of th next big piece of creative adminis tration In the Islands, that which hsd to do with the organisation of the edu cational system. In accordance with Mr. Taffa advice, therefore. President Itoosevelt appointed Mr. Shuster. in 10. Secretary of Public Instruction In the Philippines and also a member of the Philippines Commission, which was at that time the sole legislative body In the Islands. Mr. Phuster's new duties were multifarious. He had charge of tha Hureau of Kducatlon. employing nearly 00 American and Filipino teachers, he wss the responsible head of the entire prison system, and man aged the bureau tnrough which all sup piles for the government of the islands were purchased. Furthermore, ha had charge of th Kur-iu of Printing, and th Philippine Medical College, and h organised tha Government university In the Islands, the Philippine Univer sity, as It Is known. Another Important piece of work for which he waa largely responsible wS the codification of all the American leg islation afTectlog the Philippines cover ing a period of 10 years. He waa chair man of the code committee of the Phil ippine Commission, which aucceasfully accomplished this work In 1907. For the past few years Mr. Shuster ha been engaged In the practice of th law In Washington. He Is a member of the bar of the United Slates Supreme Court, of th Unltea Slates Court of Custom Appeals and of th Suprem Court and Court of Appeal of th Dis trict of Columbia. Ha married In 104 Mlea Pearl Bertha Trigg, th daughter of Colonel II. C. Trigg, a prominent banker and railroad man of Kentucky: Mr. and Mrs. Shuster have two daugh ters, both of whom were bora In Manila. Student Who Went to War. Until he was SO years of age. Charles I. McCaskey. who Is to be Inspector of t) 1 1 - I D.rala llv.il . rlou. army posts In the United Statea. oa Major-Oeneral William .,-..u. afllt h. Kr . f rnrt Spelling. Minnesota. In 177. II waa attending th University of Kansas at the beginning of when the Twentieth United States Infantry, which Ms father was commanding, waa ordered to the Philippines. In th chance to accompany them which waa !!. he obtained a position aa Inspector In the Philippine Custorar Service. He remained In this service until 105. by which time he bsd been promoted to th position of Deputy Surveyor of Customs at Manila. Hla Philippine service was roman tically Interrupted In 105. He returned to th United States In th Spring of that year on leave of absence, and on arriving In San Francisco be was mar ried to Miss Seldon Fant, of Holly Springs, Mississippi. On account of tha serious Illness of his wife two yeara later. Mr. McCaskey waa compelled to leave the Philippines, and he secured a transfer from tha Customs Service at Manila to that of the port of New Tork. About a year after his arrival in New Tork he waa promoted to the position of Acting Deputy Surveyor of th Port, which position h held when b was selected for the work In Persia. Ralph W. Hills is the only one of th five who has not had a colonial expe rience. The position that he Is to fill In Persia relating, as It doea to matters of i bookkeeping- and accounting entirely. , ! not make necessary that special training. He Is a native of Cleveland. - O. and he la now In his ttth vear. His I father. Captain Charles W. Hills, of the Forty-first Ohio Volunteers, served with distinction during the Civil War. and received several severe wounds, which eventually caused his death. Mr. Hills, after being graduated from the Washington High School entered Co lumbia University.. from which he was graduated In 1897 with the degree of Ing company In New York, but he soon left that to enter the Government eerv , Ice In Washington. A few yeara later I he decided to study law, and took th . course at George Washington Cni ; verslty. from which he holds the degree of Bachelor of Laws. Since 190 he has i been practicing as an attorney In the I District oi iuiuram. In l'V. wnen congress piacea tni building and loan associations In th District of Columbia under the super vision of the Controller of th Currency, Mr. Hills was appointed to make the semi-annual examinations of those In stitutions. He has been engaged in this work. In addition to the general practice of th law. sine that time. Mr. Hills IS a son-in-law oi me taie Gorman, be married In 101. They have on son and two daughters. Youngest of tho Quintet. Th youngest of tb five experts Is Bruce C. Dickey, who Is Just SO years of age. When he was 18. he left Pine Is land. Minn., where he was born and had always lived, and went to th Philip pines. He at once found employment In the customs service at Manila aa an Inspector of Immigration. The good work he did In that place brought hi promotion to the position of appraiser of merchandise. Subsequently, he was made chief of the passenger and bag gage division of the Manila Customs house, and finally assistant cashier. He resigned from the latter position to re. turn to the United Slates in 1908. . Like Mr. Shuster. V. 8. Cairns, who is to have charge of direct taxation In Persia, acquired his experience In both Cuba and the Philippines. He had been fnr several years a special agent In th United States Treasury Department when in 189. after the first American occupation of Cuba, he became chief of the special agents of the Cuban Cus toms Service. After two years' servlc In this position he waa appointed Sur veyor of Customs for the Philippines, which office he held until last year, when he was appointed Collector of Customs for th Port of Hollo, the sec ond largest port In the Philippines. Ha la an expert In tariff and customs mat ters, and the subject of taxation gen erally. Great Changes In Persia. Th changes that ' ha v taken place recently In Persia are not. perhaps, generally appreciated In this country. Th desire for and determination to have a sound and effective fiscal sys tem manifested by the Persians Is only on Indication of the new spirit by which they are ruled. Severe tests have shown that they are firmly set on carrying out a modern, progressive and enlightened policy In all directions. The "Mullaha." or priests, who were formerly the bulwark of the old regime, are among th strongest advocatea to day of Western Ideas of government and progress, and they are now by their solemn decrees enjoining- upon the Persian people the duty of upholding the new order of things. A great Impetus haa been given to duration by the new regime. Hun dreds of modern schools have been es tablished, and among the people gen erally there Is a great eagerness to ac quire modern learning. Kven th worn- RUSSIAN THEATERS DEPEND ;ON THE . CZAR FOR BOX OFFICE RECEIPTS All Imperial Show Houses Subject to Royal Will Actors' and Actresses' Salaries Paid for Their Services Out of Monarch's Immense Private rortune. MOSCOW, April 13. (Special.) In the Russian Idea th Csar Is th natural owner of tha theaters, and this Is why they are run on totally different lines from theaters In Ameri ca, where they are private enterprises. In Russia, an actor or actress who be longs t the Imperial theaters becomes a servant of the Cxar. He or she Is mor or less under royal protection. Th Imperial owner of the houses la which the actors appear holds him self responsible for their education, general welfare and old age. They are paid a regular salary all their lives. When too old to act or sing they get a pension. Th.elr children are sent to special schools, where they are given a liberal aducatlon. Including music, painting and at leaat on foreign lan guage. From these schools they ar drafted Into the various theatrical troupea.' The Cxar owns several theaters In St. Petersburg. Moscow, Riga and Warsaw. When he visits lther of thes cities, he invariably goes to his theaters and takes a lively Interest In the actors' progress. Th direction of th theaters Is given as a reward for public servlc. In th more private theaters, such aa th on at PavlofT. where entrance Is to be had. only by permission of one of th adjutants, th Imperial Impresario stages plays written by himself and by his mother, who has one of tha most active Intellects In the empire. Czar Pays Kxpensea. There are nearly a hundred theaters In all and their expenses are provided from the Cxar's own fortune, for very few of them pay their own way. This Is why he Is able to give his poorer subjects good operatic representations for 6 cents, as In th People's Theater at Petersburg, where go those who can not afford the mor expensive houses, and hear all the best singers for so small a charge. At the same time he has the most luxurious theaters In the world, where even th high prices charged do not cover the cost of production. Be sides Russian performers the Cxar em ploys a troupe of French players, who hav theaters all to themselves, both in Moscow and in Petersburg, where the salaries are on so generous a seal that situations In thes companies are much sought after, as being far more ad vantageous and certain than In tha theaters of France. In thia way the Cxar is following th traditions set by Peter the Great, who did hl best tb encourage th drama by Importing good actors to a country where they were then unknown. All his fam ily, down to th little Cxarevitch. love th theater. From tim to time atories are whispered about the court In con nection with the Cxar's Interest in his theater The ladles of the Russian court are proverbially plain. The men. therefore. eek amusement elsewhere, A really beautifully Rueaian woman is v f I - 'Vv, ' j. cf the people of the United States and V f ';.- 1 ' - . ',.' , fc 1 L -howing a strong desire to profit by n. though veiled from men by the laws ak.l. ll.ln are Tisrt IclDStln g In the enlightenment that Is spreading over th country, in tni pi j - schools for Persian girls hav been founded by private subscription, and many Persian young women now speak FTench and English fluently, where only a few yeara ago hardly one of the middle classes could do so. Women even contribute articles to th press. 5 f . . . :- . :- &r ' . '. v 1 - i '.. , ,, ; . 1., '. ..-, M DEMOISELLE SAFOKfOFF, A RUSSIAJT ACTRESS WHO SPURNED THE CZAR'S ADVANCES. ... - -. ,. ..4 I w Vi n vnnlH i quiLe m vBncijr. wv ui . . . i . 1 ...1.. .,niitlv. fn America gets all tho homage of a belle In Russia. Czar Sees Her Performance. Miss Safdonoff. the subject of one of the photographs. Is a fair specimen of a Russian beauty. She determined to go onto the operatic stage. Her voice waa good and she bad enough influence to Th public press is one of the most remarkable of the developments of the past five yeara In Persia. It publishes articles advocating with perfect free dom the principles of constitutional lib erty, and explaining the sources of progress In other nations. With the equalisation of opportuni ty, th Persians of all classes are working In harmony to preserve the In dependence of their country, while the spread of knowledge haa aroused in them a great Interest In institutional life, and has resulted in the formation of many clubs, educational and literary societies and similar organizations. Irr all these activities the Persians are giving special attention to the example V. get an engagement in the Czar's operatic troupe at Moscow, where the opera la as good at at Petersburg. As it happened the Czar himself was In the city when she made her first appearance. In "Faust." His Majesty is particularly susceptible to the charmei of fair women; dark beau ties appeal to him far less and Miss Safonoff. as Marguerite, attracted him. Mjss Safonoff is now tho wife of a Rus of the people of the United States and are showing a strong desire to profit by American experience. Partly because of this circumstance and partly because Persia felt that she could place no re liance In fiscal agents selected or rec ommended by Russia and Great Britain for both nations have shown a strong desire to Intervene in Persian affairs Persia turned to this country for help in placing her finances on a sound basis. "I wish you could have been here at the time the new Persian Parliamc t voted in favor of a resolution asking the President of the United States to select some young American financiers for appointment as a commission to show Persia how to get an income, how to raise revenue and how to create a good system of taxation." In this way, Mrs. Sarah A. Clock, who has long been a medical missionary at Teheran, the Persian capital, wrote to a friend in New York City. Mrs. Clock has gained the confidence and respect of the au thorities and the people of Persia, for she has served well both as a mission ary and as a physician. "I was present." she continues in the letter, "when the Persian Parliament adopted this resolution. My pride in my country was stimulated by the en thusiasm and the confidence the Per sian Parliament revealed when adopt ing this resolution. Of the 76 members of the Parliament, 70 voted In favor of It. All Persia Is awaiting, with the most intense Interest, the arrival of the American Finance Commission; for It is believed that these men will be able to show Persia how she can secure the income necessary to maintain her army sian of high rank, who resigned his posi tion at court in order to marry her, and they spend theirlm at Moscow end on their country estate, never visiting St. Petersburg. "An adventuress who mar ries a Prince after leading a scandalous life is welcomed at Court," her husband says, "but a woman who haa lived an irreproachable life is banished therefrom for resisting temptation." This speech reached the Czar's ears, as It was meant to, and made him angrier than ever. For some time it was thought that Una Cavalieri, who also sang in Peters burg, would become an ornament of the Russian court. Prince Bariatinskl, who is a close friend of the Czar's fell In love with her, spent a really princely fortune in order to obtain her smiles and. finally, asked her to marry him. Her answer was characteristic. "No," she said, "there are enough actresses in your illustrious family as it is." The Prince's brother had married a dancing girl from the Imperial troupe, while a sister went on the stage. Russia Is Democratic. Some of the "behind-the-scenes" de tail of the Czar's theaters seem incred ible to Western Ideas because those who do not know Russia forget how very democratic a country it is. The private soldier says "thou" to his officer and calls him by name. The peasant speaks of the Czar as "the little father" and speaks of him by his name as well. Thia accounts for the. somewhat free way in which people talk of the Czar, who often gets a Joke against himself. V Th directors of the imperial theaters fiave the buying of clothes for the com panies, and their accounts run into mil lions of dollars, for no expense Is spared and luxurious staging Is th rule. But the directors habitually feather their own nests, too. One general was ap pointed director of th Imperial dramatio theater at Orel, where a brother of the Czar happened to be stationed, and spent much time and money among th mem bers of th Imperial troops. The Czar's brother thought that the theater was not properly kept up aad complained to the General, who said be was not al lowed enough money. "That's impossible," said the Grand Duke. "My brother spares no expense on his theaters. Show me your ac counts." Reluctantly me uenerai obeyea, ana ine nrst wiing iuo urou Duke discovered was an entry of $2000 spent during - one Winter on india rubber overshoes for the General him self. "What!" exclaimed the Grand Duke. "You spend $2000 a year on goloshes. Why. all my household gets goloshes for far less than that." The General waa old, gouty and Irritable. "Well,'' he retorted, "you must admit that, when a man of my ag has to wade In such mud as surrounds . Im perial stage life, he wants a lot of goloshes to keep himself undeflled." The Joke pleased the Grand Duke so much that he threw the accounts aside and the General's demand for an in creased allowance for tha theater was granted. Boom of South America. (National Magazine.) The agricultural and stockralslng development of what even now Is an inconsiderable part of the unused and fertile lands of Central and South America, must within a few decades completely revolutionize tha existing and thoroughly to police Persia and to protect all property interests In this new constitutional monarchy. They be lieve that America, through this finan cial group, will give Persia the high position she ought to have among tho nations of the earth." How Five Were Selected. ' The Persian government instructed its charge d'affaires at Washington, Mirza All Kull Khan, to take up with President Taft the matter of the selec tion of the five experts. Mr.. Kull Khan Is a statesman thoroughly representa tive of tho new Persia, an enthusiastic believer in the progressive ideas that now dominate the ancient Iranian em pire, and most eager for the success of the many reforms, administrative, ed ucational and social, now under way in his country. His wife Is an Ameri can, and he has not only a wide knowl edge of American Institutions, but keen appreciation of American ideals as well. With President Taft's warm appro val, Mr. Kull Khan conferred with tho State Department. "You will find Just the man you want to take charge of this work right hero in Washington," he was Informed. "Mr. W. Morgan Shuster has had the expe rience necessary to fit a man to put through such a reform as is proposed, and his record in the service of tho United States Government is the best guarantee that he will accomplish th task successfully." Mr. Kull Khan was quickly satisfied that Mr. Shuster was the man for the Job, and he forthwith ratified tho choice. In the selection of the four other financial officers he consulted with Mr. Shuster, and he selected them on Mr. Shuster's recommendation and approval. ". . L (Copyright. 1911. by E. J. EdwardjO conditions of living and commerce In both Europe and America. So, too, the Immense effect of modernizing the many populous cities of states long content to live under antiquated and unsanitary conditions, of stupendous water power and Irrigation systems, snd the economical mining of thou sands of new and old placers and de posits, with a growth of manufactur ing and milling Industries which re calls the "boom" period of Western and Northwestern expansion In our own, land, should be thoroughly studied by every American who wishes to find a new field of Individual or corporate enterprtee. The New Agriculturist. (National Magazine.) While the railroads are being pep pered with advice on scientific reduc tions of expenses, and city folk are wrought up over local politics and tha management of public service corpora- tions, attention must be called to the fact that the old conventional idea of the farmer must be changed, for the present-day agriculturist is a differ ent being. Now, the keen eye of the railroad magnate can see where the farmer is letting millions of dollars go to waste, but perhaps the farmer, on the other hand, can show the railroad men a thing or two. The gaunt, poorly clad Individual of former days, with demor alized "galluses." the traditional cow hide boots, Jeans and unbleached "hick ory" shirt, belongs to a past day and age. Today, when three fair hogs can be sold for $100 apiece each season, and when good money can be had on farm products, such "luxuries" as col lars, cuffs, derbies and neckties have a ready sale at the village store. While the subject of the cost of pro duction is being investigated by scien tists, the farmer has unostentatiously, but practically, been giving the sama problem effective attention. Bugle Announces Royal Motor. London Tit-Bits. It may not be generaly known that the drivers of the motor cars of the King, the Prince of Wales and the Duke of Connaught are all policemen. The late King's instructions were: "Run no risks, but lose no time." The latter clause used to be obeyed so Im plicitly that Lord Derby once, when returning from Newmarket a "horse's length" behind the King, on whom he was in attendance, was stopped in his motor by the police at Barnet a happy Illustration of the principle that the King can do no wrong. The royal driv ers do not rely on a motor horn alone. Alongside them on the box sits a foot- . man, who plays a key bugle to an nounce the approach of the car. In Praise of Eloquence. Success Magazine. An Alabama negro was defended in court by Senator Morgan. Having cleared the negro of the charge, the Senator said to him, "Ttastus, did you really steal the mule." "Well, Marse Morgan, It was Just like this," said 'Rastus: "I really thought I did steal dat mule, but after what you said to the Jury I was con vinced I didn't!"